Coop/Ventilation/Run/AntiTheft

The fam has been reading and studying and planning for about 4 weeks. We believe we have considered everything, but defer to others who have experience and wisdom in these areas.

6ft x6ft indoor coop (36 SF) with a 7.5ft height

Screen mesh Ventilation is 23 SF at a height of at least 5ft. We read 20% of the coop needs to be ventilated. Uncertain as to calculation of the 20%. Also: very little ventilation currently planned to the actual out-of-doors (north side on diagram). Is this a problem?

Coop is inside unused 3 car garage with raising garage doors. Can raccoons/rats/foxes squeeze underneath garage doors? I may be giving them too much credit for intellectual/physical acumen.

Run is 24ft x 34ft, 6ft tall wood fence with 1/2 in slat spacing. Is 1/2-in big enough for raccoon hands??

1ft ground apron (horizontally on ground, not vertically below or above) of chicken wire with 1in holes. Exterior of the run.

Roof of run is 1in hole chicken wire, bracing every 8ft. We have read mixed reviews on chickenwire for run roofing. I feel like a raccoon couldn't reach a chicken from 6ft up, but I may not be fully comprehending their capabilities.



We have seen foxes and raccoons at night.

Only 6' wood fence on the run? Coons can scale that easily. Heck, coyotes can get up and over fences easily.

I suggest armoring the inside of the fence with a heavy wire fencing (1" x 3") by 4' tall at least. Embed a foot into the ground for the diggers. Heavy bird netting over the entire run (it's not all expensive and works great).

Get an auto door for coop-to-run

Chzikken said:

I suggest armoring the inside of the fence with a heavy wire fencing (1" x 3") by 4' tall at least. Embed a foot into the ground for the diggers. Heavy bird netting over the entire run (it's not all expensive and works great).

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We have 4'+ sheet metal which we were considering planting into the ground to prevent predators from digging or reaching in. Sounds like that will be necessary.

If a raccoon climbs to the top of the fence will heavy bird netting keep him out? That seems like a much preferred material.

Thank you for your input. I really appreciate it.

TheGreatChickening said:

We have 4'+ sheet metal which we were considering planting into the ground to prevent predators from digging or reaching in. Sounds like that will be necessary.

If a raccoon climbs to the top of the fence will heavy bird netting keep him out? That seems like a much preferred material.

Thank you for your input. I really appreciate it.

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The netting is very strong. I can't remember the name, but I'll look it up.

I saw a video of a raccoon forcing open a garage door with auto opener to get at cat food. It was crazy!

Netting won't stop a determined raccoon - not even the heavy duty stuff. It's great for hawks and other aerial predators, though. Raccoons can tear through chicken wire, which is why most BYCers use 1/4 in hardware cloth.

I've found a combination of electric netting or wire + heavy duty avian netting is pretty darn good, if you can make it work for your setup. I have pretty much every single chicken predator you can think of here. I've had great success (so far - knock on wood).

General guidelines for ventilation is 1sq ft per bird. Your north side wall should be fine. At 36 sq ft of coop, you probably won't have more than 9 or 10 birds, I assume, so plenty of ventilation.

Reading through your plans again... If the coop is inside a garage, why even build a coop? Would it be possible to just use the garage? Just set up a roosting area and some nesting boxes? Sounds very cool to me! Wish I can an unused garage for mine! Would make winters much easier.... But maybe I'm not understanding correctly...

Aunt Angus said:

Reading through your plans again... If the coop is inside a garage, why even build a coop? Would it be possible to just use the garage? Just set up a rooting area and some nesting boxes? Sounds very cool to me! Wish I can an unused garage for mine! Would make winters much easier.... But maybe I'm not understanding correctly...

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Until this actual moment reading your thoughts, I honestly hadn't thought of it. I think we just got caught up on the coop hype.

At this point, it's pretty much framed and partially built, so we may continue on. I mostly wanted to ensure the chickens were as secure as possible.

Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

I might convert a garage into a chicken coop, but I wouldn't put one into a garage.

First, garages are generally very badly ventilated -- and if you actually put vehicles in there they are also contaminated by toxic fumes.

Second, chickens are dusty so everything else in the garage would be coated in a mix of feather dander, dust from the shavings, and dried chicken poop.

How many chickens are you planning for?

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Here is my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

3KillerBs said:

Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

I might convert a garage into a chicken coop, but I wouldn't put one into a garage.

First, garages are generally very badly ventilated -- and if you actually put vehicles in there they are also contaminated by toxic fumes.

Second, chickens are dusty so everything else in the garage would be coated in a mix of feather dander, dust from the shavings, and dried chicken poop.

How many chickens are you planning for?

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Here is my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

Click to expand...

We are in planting zone 7, in the southish middlish of the U.S. We don't use the garage for cars. (We don't have electric openers and are ambitiously lazy when it comes to getting home, getting out of the cars, manually opening the garage, getting back in the cars, etc., etc.)

Also: I freaking LOVE your articles.

TheGreatChickening said:

We are in planting zone 7, in the southish middlish of the U.S. We don't use the garage for cars. (We don't have electric openers and are ambitiously lazy when it comes to getting home, getting out of the cars, manually opening the garage, getting back in the cars, etc., etc.)

Also: I freaking LOVE your articles.

Click to expand...

I'm at the border of zone 7b and 8a -- literally, it's only about half a mile north of my house -- so heat is going to be your problem rather than cold. What is the temperature inside that garage on a hot summer day?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

I strongly recommend Open Air coops for hot climate people.